TongTong
Sign in

自问 (zì wèn) — to ask oneself; to examine one's own conscience or thoughts; to reach a conclusion after weighing a matter

Definition

verb
to ask oneselfto examine one's own conscience or thoughtsto reach a conclusion after weighing a matter

Examples

  • 自问，。
    Wǒ jīng cháng zì wèn, zhè yàng zuò dào dǐ duì bú duì.
    I often ask myself whether doing this is actually right or not.
  • 自问，。
    Jīng guò yì fān zì wèn, tā zhōng yú míng bai le zì jǐ de zhēn shí xiǎng fǎ.
    After some self-questioning, he finally understood his true thoughts.
  • 自问，。
    zì wèn Zhī hòu, tā jué dìng gǎi biàn zì jǐ de shēng huó fāng shì.
    After examining himself, he decided to change his lifestyle.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

自zìself
问wènask

自问 turns asking inward: 自 points to the self, and 问 is the asking.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 問; 问 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén問wèn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 問 combines 口 (mouth) with 門, which gives the sound; the simplified 问 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 问 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.